Elimination
by Ilovetoread09
Summary: Entry for the 2013 Castle Ficathon. Castle and Beckett investigate a string of murders that are not related, or are they?
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is my entry for Castle Ficathon. It is also my first real case fic, so I will be swimming in new waters. This takes after 'Watershed'. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

* * *

Chapter 1

Kate sighed as the sound of a familiar ringing roused her from her sleep. She tucked her head into the pillow as her hand blindly searched for sleep's intruder.

"Ignore it," the voice next to her groused sleepily.

"It's work," was her response before answering. After saying hello, Kate was greeted by Esposito's voice telling her that they had a body. After receiving the address, the brunette disconnected the call and began to get up.

"Five more minutes," Rick grumbled, his hand reaching out to pull her back to bed. Kate softly chuckled, successfully dodging his grasp.

"No, no time apparently. You can stay in bed, but I have to get up."

"You know I always get up with you anyway." Her boyfriend lifted his head up from the pillow and looked at her.

"And yet you always complain," she teased, heading towards the bathroom. "Want to join me in the shower?"

Rick raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said we didn't have time."

"We'll make it quick." She smirked and chuckled as the author enthusiastically grabbed his clothes from his drawer. Her eyes lingered a little on his sock drawer, where she knew a certain black,velvet box sat.

It had been a few days since his proposal on the swings, and so far, things had been okay between them. When she responded not yet to his proposal, the hurt on Rick's face made Kate's heart twist in pain. After explaining to him that she had not accepted the job in D.C., she also told him that she wanted to see where their relationship was going. She explained that after some thinking, she knew that it would effort on both their parts, but mainly hers, in order to really push forward. Seeming satisfied with her answer, Rick had pocketed the ring, promising that would be using it at a later date.

At first, Kate was unsure how things would be between the, afterwards, but everything seemed to be going fine. They had returned to their usual routine, with a few changes beginning to appear. One of them had been Kate cooking breakfast and giving Rick coffee the morning before, instead of the other way around.

"Are you ready now?" She teased. She swore he took longer to pick out clothes than she did.

"Yes," he replied. She then sauntered into the bathroom, stripping as she went. It didn't take long for arms to be wrapped around her as she stepped into the shower. She lost all train of thought after that.

* * *

The couple parked in front of the address Esposito had provided. Kate was about to get out of the car, when Rick stopped her.

"Wait," he started.

"What?" The brunette looked at him in confusion. He smiled, before leaning over and kissing her gently. She let out a little moan, before pulling back.

"What was that for?"

"Well, I won't be able to do it for several hours, so better make the best of the time we have alone," he explained. Her response was a kiss, which lingered for a few minutes.

"Let's go, Castle," she said after breaking away, smiling.

The partners entered the small diner, assessing the situation as they crossed the yellow tape.

"What do you have, Lanie?" Kate asked the ME who was hunched over the body that was sprawled on the ground, a chair next to him.

"Antonio Martens, twenty-three. From the bluish tint to his face, it looks like he died of asphyxiation," Lanie said, gesturing to his face.

"Time of death?"

"A little less than an hour ago," Lanie assessed.

"That's quick alert time," Rick remarked. "Did he choke on something?"

"It looks like he just choked on his juice," the ME stated gesturing toward the half empty glass on the table.

"So it was an accident?" The brunette detective inquired.

"Looks like it," Lanie sighed. "I'll know more when I take him back to the lab."

Esposito then approached them, with Ryan on his heels.

"Do you guys have anything?"

"A guy that was sitting over in the next booth over saw our victim down his drink. Apparently, Martens here just started choking. The manager called 911 immediately."

Kate and Rick both looked at each other, frowning. Had they been called in for an accident.

"Anything else?" Rick asked.

"No, the waiter said the guy was pretty quiet, kept to himself," Ryan said.

"All right, let's get back to the precinct and set up the board in case we need it," Kate stated, before heading back to the car.

When they returned to the precinct, Rick and Kate began to set up the murder board with what little information they had.

"I get we need to do this, but the scene doesn't indicate anything beyond an accident," Rick grumbled.

"Come on, Castle. You know that some things are not always as they appear," Kate chided gently.

"True." They were interrupted by the ringing of Kate's phone. She answered it, hanging up a few moments later.

"That was Lanie. Apparently she has something for us." Kate gave Rick a small smirk, which earned her a stuck a tongue in response.

"Don't be so sore," she teased, walking into the elevator.

"Whatever."

* * *

"What do you have for us?" Kate asked, walking into the morgue.

"Well, I didn't find anything in the stomach contents," Lanie started. "But I took a sample from the orange juice glass."

"And?" The partners asked in unison.

"There were traces of potassium cyanide in it."

"Why would there be potassium cyanide in a diner?" Kate questioned.

"For the customers they hate," Rick suggested. This earned him a dry stare for both females. "What? It's possible."

"Anyway," Lanie interrupted. "The only fingerprints on the glass were our Vic's."

"What about the waiter?"

"Nope, whoever served the drink wiped the glass clean."

"So, someone did have it out for Mr. Martens here," Rick stated. "The question is: why?"

"Well, that's what our job is for," Kate stated smirking, before walking out of the morgue. Lanie chuckled as Rick blinked, before following his girlfriend.

"You guys have anything on our victim?" Kate asked as soon as the duo entered the bullpen.

"Antonio Martens, recent college graduate of NYU. He lives with his parents on the upper west side. He is currently unemployed," Ryan recited off the sheet was holding."

"Any priors?"

"None," Esposito stated. "But records state a suit was brought against him by parents of Emily Rena."

"What for?" Rick asked.

"Apparently negligence," Esposito responded. Kate and Rick raised their eyebrows. "Our vic and Emily went out to a party last year together. Emily was intoxicated and Antonio dropped her at her dorm building and took off. She was found dead the next day in her bed."

"I'm guessing the charges did not go through," Kate surmised.

Both detectives shook their heads.

"The judge ruled not guilty on all counts," Ryan replied.

"That would make for a very angry and revenge-seeking set of parents," Rick remarked. Kate nodded in agreement.

"All right, see if you can get his parents in here," Kate ordered. "I want to see what they can tell us about this suit."

* * *

AN: The first few chapters will be slow moving, but then it will pick. The case is not that simple, I have everything planned out, so trust me. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

* * *

Chapter 2

Kate and Rick sat across from the middle aged couple in break room, gently questioning them about their son.

"I don't know anyone who would want to hurt Tony," Mrs. Martens said with moist eyes, her grip on the mug in her hand tightening.. "He was such a nice boy."

"He was a the top of his class, bright kid," Mr. Martens stated.

"I see," Kate stated and started gently. "Our records indicate that Antonio faced a law suit about a year ago, can you tell us about that?"

Mrs. Martens eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh, that. That was a misunderstanding of sorts."

Rick raised an eyebrow. "Misunderstanding?"

The mother sighed. "That poor girl, what was her name?"

"Emily," Mr. Martens chimed.

"Right, Emily," the mother continued. "That poor girl, it was horrible what happened to her but it wasn't Tony's fault."

"But the parents thought otherwise?" Kate guessed.

The couple nodded. "They accused Tony of negligence and wanted him to pay for funeral and emotional trauma costs," Mr. Martens stated bitterly.

"They had no reason to. Tony was a gentleman and took her home when she was intoxicated. What else was he supposed to do? Babysit her?" Mrs. Martens scowled. "The whole thing distracted Tony from his studies. We were glad when the suit was overturned."

"Would it be possible that the Emily's parents are still not happy that they lost the suit?" Kate questioned.

Mr. Martens shrugged. "It could be possible, they were pretty angry the day of the hearing. However, we have not heard from them since."

"So, you don't think there's any possible way that they are connected to Antonio's murder?" The author inquired.

Mrs. Martens shook her head. "After a year? I doubt it."

Kate nodded. "Was Antonio acting odd or anything would suggest that he knew something might happen to him?"

"No, he seemed normal," Mrs. Martens started. "However, something odd did happen last week."

"What was it?" Rick asked.

"He received a package in the mail, it was fairly small. There was no return address, and it only contained one thing."

"What was in the package?" The detective asked.

Mrs. Martens shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever it was, Tony quickly shoved it in his pocket and said it was nothing. From the small glimpse I did get, it looked like an action figure or something. What Tony would want with an action figure I have no idea." She sighed.

Mr. Martens gently patted his wife's hand. "We're sorry we can't of more help, Detective. Tony was a good kid, I don't see why anyone would want to kill him."

"No, you were a great help," Kate said, getting up and shaking Mr. and Mrs. Martens hands. "We'll call if anything comes up."

"Please," Mrs. Martens pleaded softly. "Catch whoever killed our son."

Kate nodded. "We'll try our best," she said, before seeing the couple off.

* * *

"Well, that was pretty much a bust," Rick said as he sat on the edge of Kate's desk. Meanwhile, the brunette detective was twirling the marker around her fingers, staring at the murder board.

"Any theories?" inquired Kate.

"Jealous classmate maybe? His father did say he was at the top of his class," Rick suggested.

"Would that really push someone far enough to stick potassium cyanide in his drink though?"

Rick shrugged. "Hey, it's a competitive world out there. Besides that though, I got nothing."

Kate sighed scanning the board in front of her. There had to be something that could help them.

"What about the action figure he was sent?" Rick asked. "He seemed pretty quick to hide it from his mother."

"Probably because he didn't want his mother to know he still played with action figures," Kate joked, giving her partner a side glance. She knew he had some stuffed under his bed, which she had learned when tripping over Green Lantern one morning.

"I do not play with them," the author objected. "I use them to act out scenes for my books."

"Right." Kate chuckled. Rick could be a child sometimes, which she found endearing.

Ryan and Esposito then entered. The couple turned around, hopeful looks on both writer and detective's faces.

"Did you get anything from the financials?" Kate asked, taking the sheet from Esposito's hands.

"Unfortunately, no. Nothing out of the ordinary," Ryan answered.

"So, besides the law suit, Martens was a clean man," Rick said.

"So why would someone want to kill him?" Esposito asked, confused.

"Maybe we should bring the Renas in for questioning," Kate started, but Ryan shook his head.

"Already checked them. According to their housekeeper Elena, they're down in Florida for the week and won't return until next week."

Kate pursued her lips. "So we've hit the dead end."

"Wait," Rick started excitedly. "Maybe he was a-"

Kate held up a finger, stopping him. "No, Castle, there is no way he was a spy or a CIA agent." Rick opened his mouth to speak, but Kate beat him to it. "Or a ninja." This earned her a small pout from her partner. She just rolled her eyes in response, fighting back a smile.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find something about the victim that posed as a red flag, but nothing came up. Kate ran a hand through her hair as she looked through the victim's records again, only to come up empty.

"Let's go home," Rick suggested as evening began to approach. "We haven't gotten anywhere with this case, and staring at the murder board won't help."

Kate nodded. Her brain felt like mush from reading paperwork and looking at the murder board all after noon. Rick had tried to help, but even he could not come up with anything.

"Pizza okay with you?" he asked as he helped her put her coat on. The sensation of his warm fingers brushing the back of her neck almost made her shiver.

"Yeah," she responded, heading into the elevator.

"Cheese with pepperoni and mushrooms?" Rick questioned with a knowing smile.

"You know what I like." There was sultry edge to her voice. She smiled in satisfaction as cerulean eyes darkened in lust.

"Yes, I do," he murmured, eyes roaming.

"Well then, the faster we get home, the quicker you can give it to me," she teased, her hips swaying slightly as she walked out of the elevator. She could have sworn she heard Rick groan behind her. She could not wait to get home.

* * *

"I still can't believe we hit a dead end already," Rick said, stepping into his bedroom.

It was after dinner and the couple was getting ready for bed, with Kate already snuggled under the covers. Their dinner time banter had turned back to the case at some point.

Kate shrugged. "It happens. Maybe we'll find something tomorrow when our heads are clearer."

Rick nodded, slipping between the cotton sheets. "The guy seems pretty straight forward, besides the whole law suit thing."

"Yeah. Someone could just have had it out for him , like you said, a jealous classmate maybe."

"Really out for him. Potassium cyanide is pretty extreme," the author stated.

"Well, we'll figure it out tomorrow," Kate murmured, a lustful look in her eyes. She smiled seductively, pulling her partner in for a kiss, the sheet still covering her. She felt his hand on her hip and chuckled when he moaned. His hand began to roam up her side.

"You're naked," he murmured between kisses.

"Yep." She rolled them over so that she was on top of him. Her brown locks gently swept over his chest.

"Naughty," he murmured, pulling her against him. He planted kisses along her neck, before she stopped him. "What?"

"Tonight is going to be about you." Her lips hover right by his ear, where she then places a gentle kiss.

"Kate, you don't have to-" Rick started, but soft lips stopped him.

"I want to." She flashes a mischievous smile, before retreating under the covers by his waist. Rick lost himself in blissful pleasure for the rest of the night.

* * *

The author woke to sunlight streaming into his bedroom and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. A moment later, his girlfriend entered, already dressed, with two steaming mugs of coffee in her hand.

"Morning," he greeted, smiling as he took the mug.

"Morning, sleep well?" Kate asked, taking a sip for her own cup.

"Yeah, I was rather exhausted after last night." He winked at her.

"I wonder why," she replied, leaning in for a kiss. Unfortunately, the ringing of her cell phone interrupted them.

"Ugh," Rick grunted, flopping back onto his pillow dramatically. His girlfriend just smirked.

"Beckett," the brunette answered. After a few moments of silence she said okay and ended the call. Rick looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"That was Ryan. There's been another murder."

* * *

AN: I know the chapter is short, but things are starting out slow. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.


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